But Luttier’s representation of oil executive Todd Kozel during his divorce from ex-wife Ashley could be a case for the ages. After paying Ashley millions of dollars as part of their marital settlement, Kozel has turned around and sued Luttier and his law firm for malpractice.

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In what may be a record claim in anyone’s book, Kozel is seeking nearly $80 million from Luttier as well as his firm, Critton, Luttier & Coleman.

The figure includes $68.3 million in damages Todd Kozel claims he incurred as part of the property settlement agreement with his ex, plus a separate lawsuit stemming from the agreement. There’s also an additional $10 million in legal costs and fees Kozel tacked on, according to the U.S. District Court complaint filed Nov. 26.

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In an interview on Tuesday, Luttier and partner Gregory Coleman denied any malpractice.

“Mark has been practicing law for 42 years, has never been sued for malpractice, and is known as one of the go-to lawyers for family law in South Florida," Coleman said. "This is a garbage, baseless case, and we are going to contest this vigorously."

Even Ashley Kozel's own lawyer, Zachary Potter, had high praise for Luttier, calling him "one of the finest lawyers that my firm has ever gone up against."

Todd and Ashley Kozel aren’t a household name in Palm Beach County. But they are known nationally and internationally. Todd co-founded Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. and served as its chief executive officer until July 2014.

Even though they lived in Sarasota, in 2010 they both picked high-profile West Palm Beach divorce lawyers to handle their case. Todd chose Luttier and Ashley selected the firm Fisher Potter Hodas, led by attorney Jeffrey Fisher.

By 2012, the Kozels had struck an agreement that involved the transfer of 23 million shares of Gulf Keystone Petroleum stock to Ashley. But after the stock transfer, the legal wrangling didn't end.

Ashley subsequently sued Todd claiming that Todd dragged his feet on transferring the stock, a delay she claims caused her to lose money. A Sarasota County judge agreed and ordered Todd to pay $34.6 million to Ashley, according to court records. That ruling has been appealed to the 2nd District Court of Appeal.

The malpractice complaint against Luttier, filed by the Miami law firm of Kluger, Kaplan, Silverman, Katzen & Levine, said the whole stock debacle would not have occurred “but for Luttier’s failure to properly advise Todd."

The lawsuit said the property settlement agreement would have allowed Todd to just transfer the cash value of the stock, and not the stock itself. In doing so, Todd lost $29 million, the complaint said.

Luttier said that's not the case. He said the property settlement agreement did not give an option to transfer cash instead of stock, and he noted the malpractice lawsuit doesn't include the property settlement agreement as evidence for this claim.

Court records show Todd Kozel is hoping the appeals court will undue the $34.6 million judgment emanating from the stock transfer. But that hasn't stopped Sarasota County Judge Nancy Donnellan from taking a hard line when it comes to Kozel, the judgment, and another $3.85 million for taxes that was to have been put in escrow for Ashley.

In a May 2016 order, Donnellan notes that "the husband incredibly claims he has no money. Yet, he continues to live a lavish lifestyle," including luxury travel, a trip to a spa in Thailand, designer clothes, expensive dinners and wine purchases, she wrote.

The order listed his purchase of a $13 million condo in New York, an $11 million condo in Miami and a London apartment, leased for $35,000 a month.

In an interview, Fisher said Todd Kozel "hasn't paid one red cent" of the judgment. So he's been trying to track down Todd's assets and spending to satisfy the amount.

In 2016, Ashley made the New York tabloids with a letter seeking to stop expensive fertility treatments by Todd’s new wife, Inga. Fisher said Ashley later dropped the fertility action.

In May 2017, Ashley won a court order allowing her to seize the $13 million Manhattan condo Kozel shared with Inga. She also was allowed to take any artwork hanging in the Chelsea property. The sale of the condo has been stayed pending further legal action, Fisher said.

Kozel's blockbuster money fight against Luttier is ugly, and it likely will get uglier as the litigators prepare to battle.

But notably, even the judge who ruled against Luttier had kind words for him. During a 2015 hearing, as Luttier was withdrawing from the case, Donnellan called Luttier's representation of Todd Kozel "extraordinary," according to a court transcript.

Alexandra Clough writes about real estate, law and the economy. aclough@pbpost.com @acloughpbp